Understanding

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Understanding health. The social cultural
constructs within living behavior housing
design

Jenine Godwin Confirmed PhD Supervisors Professo
r Paul Memmott Associate Professor Andrew Jones
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Overview of presentation
Aim of the research Significance of the
research Methods Findings Timeline Expected
limitations Questions
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The primary aim of the research is to explore
Aboriginal housing and how it impacts on
individual and community health and or well-being
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The secondary aims of the research

• Examine Aboriginal housing perspectives, i.e.
  values, uses, functions etc, with community
  members in Dajarra, Urandangi and surrounding
  areas
• Identify and make evident the significance of
  Aboriginal health and or well-being concepts

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Secondary aims cont.

• Highlight the relationship between Aboriginal
  perception of health and housing in these
  communities and
• Distinguish Government policy, that prevents
  current housing supply from delivering
  appropriate health and or well-being outcomes.

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Research Outcomes

• How Aboriginal people use and value their housing
  in Dajarra, Urandangi and surrounding areas
• What Aboriginal perspectives of what good and
  bad health mean in these communities

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Research outcomes cont.

• Identify critical intersections in the
  relationship between health and housing and
• Informed policy advice and negotiation strategies
  in relation to healthy housing.

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Current housing is not appropriate

• Housing implementation needs to
• Living understanding of Aboriginal world
  view, lifestyle, culture, language, native title,
  economic political realms
• Delivering housing services and
  organizations which reflects, identifies culture
  and specific aspects of social determinants that
  impact of Aboriginal lifestyles

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Defining home

• Home' meant the house, but also everything that
  was in it and around it, as well as the people,
  and the sense of satisfaction and contentment
  that all these conveyed. You walk out of the
  house, but you always returned home."
• (Rybczynski, W 198762.)

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Aboriginal definition of home, place, culture.

• a mutual interaction between people and the
  environment. Places are characterized by
  continual processes of change including the
  addition of new properties of place and the
  creation of new places. Displacement and forced
  changes to place can be a traumatic and damaging
  experience.
• Place is part of culture, and culture is part of
  place
• (Long 200563.)

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Aboriginal housing

• 1967 Referendum Commonwealth Government
  developing policies to address housing
• 1972 formation of the Aboriginal Affairs
  portfolio
• 1973-75 new approach to housing, labeled self
  determination

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Indigenous housing needs major repair Almost
one in three houses in Indigenous communities
need extensive repairs or should be
demolished.. (Corbett, K. 2007)
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• clinical
• cultural
• services
• case management

• services
• funding
• Homeless
• cultural issues
• access

• CDEP
• training
• racism
• recruitment

• curriculum
• attendance
• cultural issues
• attendance

• services
• family
• culture
• land

• financial
• parenting
• family violence
• youth
• racism
• stolen
• generation

• gambling
• alcohol
• youth
• illegal
• substances
• prescription
• drugs
• chroming

• diagnosis
• service/access
• stolen
• generation
• treatment

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RESEARCH SITES
Camooweal
X
X
X
Alpurrurulam
X
URANDANGI
X
DAJARRA
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Dajarra Urandangi communities experience
complex forms of housing living options.
Hence, they adapt to what they have (in
comparison to most peoples standards), and they
grow up in an environment assuming the way they
are living is normal.
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Methodology

• Required me to be absorbed into the daily
  community life
• In Dajarra I rented a one bedroom house from the
  Department of Housing house for 12 weeks
• Maintaining the house and watered the yard
• Used the services
• Accepted as a community member i.e. invited to
  cook ups, community meetings, visiting elders
  i.e. Macie
• Travelling an hour and a half to the Isa
  (shopping or appointments) i.e. carpooling

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• Fieldwork in Dajarra Urandangi
• Qualitative data collection interviews
  yarning
• Mapping of the community
• Visual Anthropology
• Participant Action Research

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FINDINGS SO FAR
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OVERCROWDING

• each one gets an income and will have their
  own little place to put their food so nobody puts
  food out in the open. Everybodys that got food,
  have got food stored in their bedroom, but they
  only take enough out for them and their kids
  rather than feed like, you know blackfella way,
  like you got a big pot of stew everybody gets to
  eat. (community member 2008)

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DUST/WIND

• Bedourie Dust, from the south
• Eye respiratory infections
• Gets into everything i.e. clothes in drawers,
  kitchen utensils, food stored on benches e.g.
  bread etc
• No architectural housing design eliminates dust
  entering in the house. The people close there
  house up and sometimes it can be up to 40C heat
  outside

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IMPORTANCE OF EXTERNAL LIVING

• Outside fire cooking areas
• These areas are used for social gatherings
  cook ups
• Mainly used in the winter. In summer people
  are in with air conditioners, but most dont like
  air conditioners
• External areas need to be considered when
  building a house with a cover or sitting under
  and an open fire area in the middle

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Limitations identified

• Community lores
• Contacts
• sorry business
• Mens womens business
• Accessing the community
• Gender roles
• Communication

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Bibliography

• Corbett, K. 2007 Indigenous housing 'needs major
  repair, in The Age, Melbourne, 20/4/07.
• Long, S. 2005 Gidyea Fire A Study of the
  transformation and maintenance of Aboriginal
  place properties on the Georgina River, PhD
  Thesis, School of Geography, Planning and
  Architecture, The University of Queensland,
  Brisbane, May.
• Rybczynski.W. 1987. Home A Short History of an
  Idea. New York U.S.A. Penguin Books. Original
  edition, 1986.

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Thank-you
Questions??